U.K. Employers Lose Focus on Inclusive Hiring

Research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation finds that nearly half of employers do not use inclusive wording in their job listings.

By Maggie Mancini

There is a decline in the number of employers using best practice methods for inclusive hiring, suggests an annual survey of employers by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). It’s a major concern if employers are failing to understand the commercial and ethical reasons to ensure they hire inclusively, especially given the U.K.’s acute skills and labour shortages and long-standing struggles to improve productivity.  

The survey shows how vital it is for recruiters to continue to challenge their clients to embrace diversity as a way of expanding talent pools and innovation.  

Key findings from the survey include the following. 

• More than half (55.2%) of employers say they do not specifically state an interest in diverse candidates in their job listings. This figure was 49.2% in 2023 and 47.9% in 2022. And just 5.8% plan to implement this in the future, which is a drop compared to 7.2% in 2023 and 8.2% in 2022. Still, at least 25.5% say they introduced this more than a year ago—up on 23.8% in 2023 but down to 29.2% in 2022.  
• Nearly half (44.2%) do not use wording specifically designed to be inclusive in their job listings. This is compared to 28.3% in 2023 and 33% in 2022.  
• Nearly three-quarters (74.8%) do not use name blind CV submissions. This is compared to nearly 70% who did not in 2023 and 53.2% who did not in 2022. Still, just 3.8% say they plan to implement this in the future.  
• A total of 61.7% of employers say they do not use diverse interview panels. This is compared to 55.7% in 2023 and 53.4% in 2022. However, 11.5% say they plan to do this in the future, compared to 10.6% in 2023 and 8.3% in 2022.  

As an additional question in this year’s survey, REC asked employers what would most encourage their organisations to implement or enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in their recruitment process. The most sought after for help was for training and learning resources on best DEI practices (29%); stronger internal policies and commitment from senior leaders at their respective organisation (26%); events and networking with other organisations on DEI initiatives (20%); and support and advice from external DEI experts (17%).